The Marines, Counterinsurgency, and Strategic Culture

Contents
Foreword by Gen. Jim Mattis, USMC (Ret.)
Acknowledgments
ix
xi
Introduction: Learning Counterinsurgency 1
Part I. The Strategic Cultures of Americans,
the US Military, and Marines
1. Know Thyself: Turning the Strategic Culture Tool Inward 15
2. Bounding the Possible: The Impact of US National
and Military Cultures on Counterinsurgency Practice 37
3. Life in the Seams: Establishing Marine Corps Identity
and Role 53
4. Brothers in Arms: Marine Norms and Values 86
5. “We Do Windows”: Marine Norms and Perceptual Lens 115
Part II. Marines across a Century
of Counterinsurgency Practice
6. Setting the Stage: Small Wars and the American Mind 141
7. Contrasting Nation- Building in the Caribbean and Vietnam:
Efficiency and Order as Enemies of Democracy 184
8. Counterinsurgency Readiness from Haiti to Vietnam:
The Consequences of Craving Conventional War 202
9. Counterinsurgency in Iraq: Experiencing the Learning Curve 217
Conclusion: Lessons Learned and Lessons Lost 256
Bibliography 283
Index 297
About the Author 311